“Millions of people facing the cancellation of health insurance policies will be allowed to buy catastrophic coverage and will be exempt from penalties if they go without insurance next year, the White House said Thursday night.” [NYT]

“A comprehensive defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and adds protections for victims—but doesn’t include the most controversial proposals concerning new rights for victims—was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate late Thursday.” [CBS]

“A bit of bipartisan Christmas cheer finally arrived in the Senate around 10 p.m. Thursday. That’s when senators locked in an agreement that will set up a series of votes Friday morning as the last of 2013…” [Roll Call]

“Credit agency Standard & Poor’s cut its triple-A rating of the European Union by one notch on Friday, saying it had concerns about how the bloc’s budget was financed, a view EU leaders and other officials dismissed as misguided.” [Reuters]

“Former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been released from jail following a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin…” [BBC]

“U.S. astronauts are poised to begin a series of spacewalks as soon as Saturday to replace a coolant system aboard the international space station, a harbinger of the increasing maintenance the aging laboratory is likely to need in coming years as it orbits Earth at more than 17,000 miles an hour.” [WSJ]